Highway Engineer

Design and construct highways.

Quick Stats

Outlook

Very Good

Salary Range

$51,000 – $119,000

Data from U.S. Department of Labor

What do Highway Engineers do?

A big-picture thinker with a knack for planning and a fascination with transportation, a Highway Engineer designs, builds, and maintains highway systems all across the country. Whether you spent your childhood erecting cities out of building blocks or you’ve recently found a hidden love for construction, a career as a Highway Engineer lets you use both your critical thinking abilities and creative design skills to improve highway systems.

Without Highway Engineers, road systems would fall into disrepair and interstates would become a jumbled mess of circles. Designing carefully planned routes meant to de-stress the daily commute takes up much of your time.

It’s a balancing act between theory and reality. Highways must meet high levels of safety standards. Each project changes in terms of traffic volume, available materials, weather conditions, and a host of other influential factors.

Choosing how to build a highway and what to build it out of is the first, and largest, step in the process. Then comes the actual construction. Here, you serve as Supervisor to the Construction Workers bringing your blueprints to life. You ensure that the road shapes up according to plan.

Finally, you plan out and monitor recurring road maintenance. A stunning highway is useless if harsh weather erodes it away. By overseeing continuous maintenance on the road, you can fix potholes and prevent cracks so your beautiful design stays up and running for many years to come.

Should I be a Highway Engineer?

You should have
a
bachelor's
degree or higher and share these traits:

High Achiever:
You love the challenge of tackling difficult work.

Ready for a Challenge:
You jump into new projects with initiative and drive.

Logical Thinker:
You take a step-by-step approach to analyze information and solve problems.